This invention relates to personal media devices and, more particularly, to controlling input and output characteristics of personal media devices based on associated conditions.
The proliferation of compact portable personal media devices (e.g., portable MP3 players, portable video players, and media capable cellular telephones) has enabled users to conveniently carry and interact with such compact portable media devices during virtually any type of activity. The interaction may include accessing multimedia such as video and audio (e.g., voice and music) and sending or receiving communications via the media device. The types of activities could be personal, social, work-related, or recreational. The activities could occur under various environmental conditions, at various times or dates, in various social settings, or in various personal settings.
One problem with existing portable media devices such as cellular telephones is that, in order to alert a user of an incoming communication, the media device typically outputs an alert that is not always appropriate for certain environmental conditions, social situations, or personal situations. For instance, a ringer volume of sufficient intensity for a quiet office environment may not have sufficient intensity for a crowded and noisy stadium. In another instance, a cellular telephone could interrupt a business meeting with a ringing alert because the user did not previously turn off the telephone or its ring setting. Accordingly, there is a need for providing a media device capable of sensing various associated conditions of its surrounding environment and adjusting characteristics of its alert feature based on such associated conditions.
Another problem with existing portable media devices is that once an alert for an incoming call is initiated, typical media devices are unable to adapt or adjust their alert characteristics in response to a subsequent change in associated conditions. Accordingly, there is a need for providing a media device capable of sensing various changes in associated conditions, e.g., surrounding environmental conditions, after an alert is initiated and adjusting or adapting a characteristic of the alert in response to such changes or events.
Another problem with existing portable media devices is that alert settings typically remain constant regardless of the time of day or day of the week. For example, the alert volume may be set at an acceptably high intensity during the day while the same intensity is too high during the night or early morning when the user may be sleeping. Accordingly, there is a need for providing a media device capable of sensing temporal conditions and adjusting a characteristic of an alert based on such temporal conditions.
A further problem with current portable media devices is that these devices are not capable of automatically or intelligently setting their alert characteristics. For instance, cellular telephone users must continuously change the alert settings of their telephones depending on their surroundings. Accordingly, there is a need for providing a media device that is capable of intelligently, automatically, and unobtrusively adjusting alert characteristics or other output/input (I/O) characteristics based on surrounding or associated conditions.
A yet further problem with existing portable media devices is that the reception or delivery of information by the media device may be adversely affected by surrounding environmental conditions. For instance, surrounding ambient noise may affect a user's ability to hear or understand the output from a speaker of the media device where the speaker volume is set at an intensity that is too low for current conditions. In another instance, the display light intensity may be set to enable viewing in outdoor daylight settings, but be too high for certain low light conditions such as in a movie theatre. Accordingly, there is a need for providing a media device capable of adjusting an input or output characteristic in response to associated conditions such as surrounding environmental conditions.